Captain’s Log: Riker’s poker game is interrupted by a Class-11 emergency signal, which is parsimonious with specifics, only that the ship is to divert to a set of coordinates, with further instructions forthcoming. With a due sense of anticipation and dread, Picard orders the ship to those coordinates, which is outside the Boradis system, which was colonized within the past three decades. Admiral Gromek tells Picard that they must meet up with a special emissary who is traveling at warp speed inside a probe. Not exactly a comfortable way to travel.

The emissary is a half-human, half-Klingon woman named K’Ehleyr, and it turns out that she and Worf have a history, and it didn’t end well.

Starbase 336 received an automated transmission from a Klingon ship, the T’Ong, which was sent out seventy-five years ago. They are about to awaken from a cryogenic sleep, and they think the Federation and the Klingon Empire are still at war. The concern, and the reason for rushing, is that there are a mess of minimally defended human colonies that are ripe targets for the T’Ong. There is a Klingon ship, the Prang, en route, but they’re two days behind, and that may be too late for the Boradis colonies.

K’Ehleyr’s recommendation is that they will have to destroy the ship, as they won’t be able to reason with them. Picard refuses to accept this, and orders K’Ehleyr to come up with options, assigning Worf to assist. Worf objects to this assignment; Picard asks if there are personal reasons for this, and he answers in the affirmative. Picard then asks, “Any professional reasons?” and Worf has to admit that that answer is no. Picard just looks at him with that Picard look of his, and Worf withdraws his objection.

Unfortunately, K’Ehleyr and Worf’s unresolved feelings for each other, which are obviously very strong, get in the way of their carrying out the assignment, especially since K’Ehleyr thinks it’s a waste of time.

She goes to take out her frustrations on the holodeck, running Worf’s calisthenics program. Worf goes to the bridge and is obviously out of sorts, with Picard ordering him to relax. His snappish response of “I am relaxed!” makes it all the more clear that Picard is right, and Worf goes to the holodeck  only to find that K’Ehleyr’s already there. They join forces against the nasties, which quickly leads to more intimate activities.

K’Ehleyr thinks they should have had sex six years ago, but Worf feels they were too young and not ready. Worf, following ancient Klingon traditions, as is his wont, believes that they should solemnize their union by taking the oath of marriage. K’Ehleyr refuses to go through with it. Worf insists only that it’s a point of honor, and K’Ehleyr insists that it was wonderful, but it didn’t mean anything long-term.

The next day, they go back to their assignment, Worf bringing Data along as a chaperone, but the only palatable option they have is to hope that they arrive before the T’Ong crew awakens. In that case, they can override the cryogenic controls easily.

However, that doesn’t work out, as the T’Ong crew has awakened and fires on the Enterprise before cloaking. Since the cloak is seventy-five years old, La Forge is able to fine-tune the sensors so they can be picked up.

Worf then comes up with another option: they confront the T’Ong, but when they open hailing frequencies, what the Klingons see is Worf  along with K’Ehleyr, in full Klingon armor, and Worf wearing a floor-length cassock of command  who upbraids the T’Ong captain, telling him that the war’s over now. The captain reluctantly believes Worf, and lowers shields. Worf gives Picard command back after they end the communication. (When asked how he liked command by Riker, Worf’s response is, “Comfortable chair.”)

As K’Ehleyr is about to beam off, the two of them finally admit that they actually have feelings for each other: Worf admits that taking the oath was more a point of honor for him, and K’Ehleyr admits that she almost took the oath and it did mean something. As she beams off, she says that next time she won’t be as easy to get rid of, and Worf says he won’t be complete without her. It’s all very sweet.

Thank You, Counselor Obvious: Troi and K’Ehleyr get along well from jump, bonding initially over their mutual halfbreed status. This is especially amusing given that both of them wind up dating Worf at different points.

There is No Honor in Being Pummeled: Worf gets plenty of moments in the sun, starting with kicking ass at poker, continuing with a reunion with a lost love, including knocking boots on the holodeck, and ending with a successful first command. He does a great job as a Klingon commander, intimidating the T’Ong crew into submission.

If I Only Had a Brain : Data announces that the wisest course of action for him in the poker game is “to bend.”

No Sex, Please, We’re Starfleet: Worf and K’Ehleyr had a relationship six years earlier that ended badly. Based on the contentious nature of their interactions, it was pretty tempestuous, and they pick right up where they left off.

What Happens on the Holodeck Stays on the Holodeck: Worf and K’Ehleyr use the holodeck the way you know that most of the crew probably really does use it: as a sex aid. The calisthenics program gets to be foreplay.

I’m a Doctor, Not an Escalator: Pulaski snarks Riker at the poker game (“What’s the matter, your feet are getting cold?” to which Riker replies, “My cards are getting cold”), only to lose badly to Worf.

Welcome Aboard: Suzie Plakson, having wowed the producers as Selar in “The Schizoid Man,” returns as K’Ehleyr, the first of two appearances in the role. Lance LeGault has sufficient bluster as the Klingon captain, while Georgann Johnson is perfectly ordinary as Admiral Gromek.

Best of all, though, we get two Robert Knepper moments for the price of one! Anne Ramsay returns as Clancy, this time as a conn officer rather than assistant chief engineer as she was in “Elementary, Dear Data,” and we also get comedian Deitrich Bader (best known as Oswald on The Drew Carey Show) as a tactical officer.

I Believe I Said That: “You’re upset.”

“Your finely honed Betazoid sense tell you that?”

“Well, that, and the table.”

Troi and K’Ehleyr, following K’Ehleyr smashing a table in frustration.

Trivial Matters: The poker game makes a triumphant return, firmly establishing itself as a regular thing.

Worf’s calisthenics program returns for a second time, after previously being seen in the teaser of “Where Silence Has Lease,” but this time it actually relates to the plot of the rest of the episode.

K’Ehleyr will return in “Reunion” in the fourth season. Her first meeting with Worf was chronicled in the young-adult novels Line of Fire and Survival by Peter David.

Make it So: “The iceman wins again!” An episode like this lives or dies entirely upon the actors. If the wrong person is cast as the guest love interest, or if that person doesn’t have any kind of chemistry with the person in the main guest they’re paired up with, it all falls apart.

Luckily, that’s not remotely an issue here. Suzie Plakson is superb as K’Ehleyr, creating one of the best guest stars in TNG‘s entire run. Plakson imbues her with tremendous verve and personality, as she charms pretty much everyone on board  except, of course, for Worf. And Michael Dorn plays beautifully off her, his impersonation of a “Klingon glacier” contrasting beautifully with her freewheeling nature.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward, but it’s mostly there as an excuse for Worf and K’Ehleyr to snark at each other, and for Worf to get his first shot at command  after a fashion. His solution is clever and effective. It’s easily Worf’s best showcase to date, and Dorn makes tremendous use of it, showing the character’s range of emotion without sacrificing the character’s trademark stoicism. It’s a remarkably subtle performance, made all the more effective by its contrast with Plakson’s near over-the-top turn.

An excellent piece by one of TNG‘s most reliable writing teams in Manning and Beimler.